The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has said that Kaduna, Anambra and Kano states have formally declared interest to participate in Open Government Partnership (OGP) to increase openness in governance and also to prevent and detect corruption.
The OGP being funded by the MacArthur Foundation is an international multi-stakeholder initiative which brings together government and civil society organisations to ensure that government activities are open and not shrouded in secrecy and mystery.
The AGF represented by his Special Adviser Justice Section Reform, Barrister Julie Ibekaku-Nwogu spoke at the training of members of open alliance organised by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD).
“The implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) co-created by the federal government and civil societies has commenced and has led to progress and success in many areas, including open contracting, led by the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP); open budgeting, led by the Ministry of Budget and Planning and Budget Office; and beneficial ownership transparency, led by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) among others,” he said.
Also, the Director of the Centre LSD Dr. Otive Igbuzor said the OGP process started in 2011 by eight countries and that over one third of world countries are engaged in this process.
“For Nigeria, the problem is that the nation’s resources have has not translated into services for citizens and President Muhammadu Buhari understood that one of the major problem is corruption. So, the OGP is meant to promote openness, transparency and accountability in the use of resources.
“The challenge is the citizens of Nigeria, government and indeed everyone need to have a change of mindset and a change of orientation to implement its transformative commitment, 14 of them, he has made and that resources of the country will deliver services to the people.
“Corruption thrives when there is no information, through doing specific things to prevent corruption, through having beneficial ownership register, so that we know who owns what and if you own what cannot be accounted for by your income then we can know that corruption has taken place,” he said.
The Co-Chairman of the OGP and the Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda (MRA) Mr. Edetaen Ojo said the training is an opportunity for CSOs to provide reforms and other innovations they have been clamouring for over the years through the OGP implementation.
He said governance has been left to the government alone over the years and that the CSOs have realized that it was not working hence the need to evolve a new approach
